Pay It Forward

There it was again! Staring up at me, were a set of frightened eyes. I had noticed them the day before, as I carelessly tossed some papers into the trash can in my bedroom. There, at the bottom of a dauntingly tall litter receptacle was a small spider. Unlike my arachnophobic friend, I don't mind spiders so long as they don't bite me. So I really didn't ponder the sighting of the eight-legged, eight-eyed creature for much time. Now, I realized it had been there for at least two days. Call me a softy, but I felt sorry for it. I imagined, one moment, it was looking at a captivatingly white cylinder and the next moment, it found itself stuck in a hole, possibly for the rest of its life. Didn't you ever feel that way as a kid, or maybe even now? You're just exploring the backyard, and then you get lost in the woods; you're just looking at that toy at the store for a few more seconds, and next thing you know, your mom is gone; you just want to try shaving once, and you get tied to it for the rest of your life. Is this ringing a bell for anyone else? My point is: we've all done things that we later regretted. Sometimes they're stupid, and sometimes they're inappropriate, but other times, our curiosity just gets the better of us. Like peeking at Christmas presents and feeling guilty all winter long, or secretly eating all the cookies, then realizing there's no one else to blame, or saying what was really on your mind. I've done it all.

However, I've been shown grace, repeatedly. I've received so many second chances (most notably the price paid by the cross), that I know I have no choice but to pay it forward. Even to something as insignificant as a tiny spider. With this in mind, I turned the trash on its side and gave it the freedom of which it dreamed. Thank you to everyone who's done the same for me. :-)

Have a GREAT week!

Brent the Magnificent

My Spring Break

I've never really gone "Spring Breaking" or wondered what others did during Spring Break, but I found out this week. My mom and I made the three-hour-long drive to Mustang Island last Friday. We went there to work at a friend's uncle's BBQ restaurant for the week. We had a great time, but sleeping was made difficult by the seemingly endless shouts, screams, air horns, and singing outside our door during the evening. Let me go on record as saying that there are some really, really stupid people out there. What got me was that some of the parents were just as bad! Of course, these were just the people at the hotel. Our restaurant clientele was pretty bad, too. For example, lets use the twenty-something-year-old blond who asked the difference between brisket and pork. I answered that one used to be a pig and the other a cow. Don't even get me started on the lack of respect shown to a clean, well maintained salad bar. There were even carrots in the vanilla pudding at one point. AHHH! What a nightmare! The person could have at least dipped the carrots out of there, but heaven forbid they clean up their own mess. haha On the bright side, those messes kept me employed, so I guess I'm kind of indebted to all the slobs in the world. So, thank you, slobs. You inadvertently put a smile on my face and a dollar in my pocket as I watched you ruin my carefully organized table-sets of BBQ sauces, and as I cleaned your sand off our seats and floors, your finger prints off our glass doors, your dirty dishes off our tables, and your germs off my hands. haha All joking aside, we did have a good time, and enjoyed seeing a brief glimpse behind the kitchen door at what really happens at restaurants.

While we were down there, my friend's mom died. It greatly saddened me to hear of the loss of Mrs. Blanton. I know that she will be greatly missed by the countless kids she helped and the entire community of Boerne. I pray God will be with their entire family through the next couple of miles in their lives.

Also, while we were down there, I learned that my friend got engaged. Congratulations to the soon-to-be Mrs. Aimee J. Wheeler Moore. We're all so happy for you. May your relationship grow to be stronger than the foundation of that Great Wall on which he proposed. We look forward to your return home!

Well, I have to get busy with my weekend to do list. I hope you have a great weekend.

Brent the Magnificent

Kinda Smells Funny, But Tastes Real Good

"You open a package of Ramen noodles and put it in a cereal bowl. Fill it with water, and disregard any that sloshes over the side while on your way to the microwave. Put the bowl in there, and set the timer for 9 minutes and 11 seconds (like the phone number). When done, take out and enjoy. Don't worry, it kinda smells funny, but it tastes real good." According to my six-year-old brother, Peter, this is the process of making noodles that he taught me last night. Fortunately, I was there with a paper towel to clean the spilled water, and stop the microwave after 5 minutes.

I remember being his age and trying to make different things. My mom was a good cook, so I'd try to do what she did. Heck, I even salted and peppered my dad's pancake batter one time. Just because my mom said that those two spices made everything taste better. My dad couldn't believe I had done that, but we ate our fiesta spiced breakfast anyway.

Of course, that isn't the worse thing that's happened in our kitchen. A lot of people enjoy the food that comes out of this house, but let me tell you, practice makes perfect. The specimens of our practice usually get hidden away in a trash can or given to dogs who seem to have no taste buds. Among our kitchen experiments, we've had scrambled eggs made with baking soda (It should have made them fluffy, instead, they turned green.), waffle irons filled to the brim with batter (The batter rising from the soda wasn't taken into consideration. This glued itself shut and made a huge mess everywhere.), biscuits trying to be baked in a toaster (Not a toaster oven, just a regular toaster.), five silver-dollar pancakes being microwaved for 30 minutes (This caught the microwave on fire and prompted my dad to throw it out the front door.), baby food being warmed in the microwave with the metal lid still on the jar (This melted some of the plastic on the new microwave.), popcorn being cooked wrong-side-up (The hot oil ruined the remaining plastic in the interior of the new microwave.), and countless occasions of "masharoni and cheese" (Super-saturated macaroni with cheese.). Only some of the things listed were my fault, but in the end no one got hurt. So that's good. I'm happy to say that we've had the same microwave for quite some time now.

So, if you're ever invited over for dinner, don't sweat it, just come prepared to enjoy the meal. After all, what you don't know, can't hurt you, right? haha!

I've got to go. Sorry this isn't my best blog. Life's been pretty mundane, but I thought I'd post something. :-)

Brent the Magnificent